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Etherdrifter

Forest Transformation

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Essentially this is a set of tile morphs that occur based on forest density.


 


These tile morphs are not just aesthetic, they directly effect forage/botanise ratios as well as other spawn rates.


 


The idea is that the tile a tree is on changes depending on the surrounding tree density.  Trees planted in a field will continue to look the same, however large forests will not longer have grass as their base but leafmould.  Leafmould can occur randomly when a tree is in the middle of a 5x5 patch of trees has a growth event from very old to overaged.  Leafmould will then begin to spread to any tree which is surrounded by other trees.


 


When a tree is cut down the leafmould will remain, however grass grows over un-treed leafmould.  Any leafmoulded tree next to untreed grass has a chance to lose its leafmould (note below the special case for oaks and willows).


 


A special case comes into play with oaks and willows.  Oaks and willows automatically count as "treeing" a 3x3 area centered on them.  Once leafmoulded they stay leafmoulded because of how leafmould decay works..


 


Leafmould is very fertile stuff, meaning forage/botanise regen timers are halved on leafmould with the added bonus that mushrooms turn up more often.  There is a slight downside, forest themed mobs are more likely to spawn on leafmould than on grassland (deer, wolves, bears, wildcats).  As a note I would recommend 30 forage/botanise to get 2x search on leafmould.


 


 


 


A single change to the base tile of trees is all this would take (so 3 more tile arts (seasonally spring and summer would look the same) for one new tile type).  If our artists really wanted to go the whole hog they could add different kinds of leafmould for different styles of tree (thinking the distinction between pine/fir needles and oak/maple leaves here) but that would be a larger project (5 new tile arts, pine needs only need one tile art for spring/summer/autumn and one for winter).  Mechanically they're adding a new tile with some unusual spread rules, and spread rules not too hard to define either.


 


 


Edit : Forgot to add in the optional moss extra!  Trees in the center of a 5x5 area of leafmould have a low chance to get "mossed", this moss can be harvested to remove it.  It need not show up graphically (though that would be nice), just a nice little description of "the tree has some moss growing on it" and maybe a tooltip showing moss when a player has 40 forestry (with the usual 15 increment for each tile of distance).


Edited by Etherdrifter
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+1 for more tile variations. This is a good one but I'd prefer it if the leafmould areas allowed it's own types of undergrowth to grow through that wouldn't be found on other tile types. There are a lot of these type of low light requiring plants in nature although that may not be obvious from our familiar temperate forest walks not to mention a huge variety of fungus. There are also plants known for their existence at forest edges which would be another place to add unique flora. 


 


As far as how your calculations would work there I'd add conditions for things like natural glades to occur which again could carry unique flora and even attempt to gain a minimum size themselves by overpowering new trees in it's radius. I suppose it's getting advanced compared to the current landscape but how many things are actually possible for the landscape terraforming itself with some economic code to recalculate terrain every so often, even things like tree roots being uncovered by small streams occurring after the rains redistribute earths at the low points, muddy places and temporary pools, gullys and streams occurring. I think of that kind of stuff because I like to think of Wurm surviving way past what it is at present in most ways and really showcasing the columnar tileset potential of it's sandbox in style. 


 


Anyway good idea for a desirable new tile there that we would see a lot of. Actually reminds me of the mycellium infected forests where blacklighters have been stationed.


Edited by Silures

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Oooh, I love the idea of having dense forests, so thick the underbrush starts to slow you, and paths cut through forests become necessary. Makes me think of:

 

 

 

The Road Not Taken
BY ROBERT FROST
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
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Skin full of bowls she bowls them.


 


I'm not well versed in poetry but there's one poem I read at school that absolutely redeems the art for me. It was a hazy, romantic poem about a knight in a forest, an absolute masterpiece. Can't remember much else except the beauty of it but I thought it was by Ted Hughes all these years, perhaps some other Poet Laureate. I've yet find it anyway, I will search more.


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I would like to see dense forests look darker and most... er... dense forest-y. The rest of this I don't really care one way or another.

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+0.5 I like the concept but I don't know its missing something and I'm just not sure what


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Well something I did think of was the idea of adding unique forage/botaniseables to the leafmould tiles but I ran out of ideas at that point.


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You could also allow for undergrowth on these leafmold tiles. So it would reduce movement and visibility. Wet forests can grow thick brambles under the canopy, whereas dry pine and oak, etc, might be clear below... Harder to implement, but would make forests beautiful and varied.

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